


Thirteen never fourteen

by junebugtwin



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, lena being upset about grannys sick burn, magica is an asshole, rip lena, takes place in terror of the terra-firmians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:20:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22486972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junebugtwin/pseuds/junebugtwin
Summary: “-I know a bad influence when I see one. Those are good children, with bright futures!”  Lena feels like she’s been hit, like the impact should have her stumbling forward onto her knee’s.“Yeah? And what does that make me?” She snaps, and oh- she doesn’t know why she even bothers to ask, because she already knows the answer.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 72





	Thirteen never fourteen

**Author's Note:**

> Man terror of the terra-firmians is a wild episode, but I always get real upset at the part where Beakley essentially calls Lena a worthless child with no future? Like what the fuck. No hate on Beakley, but man, that is harsh. Anywho I just wanted to experiment with what Lena must have been thinking during that whole thing, so. Here we are!

Lena kept her eyes firmly glued to her phones screen, tapping at its surface every time another pixilated dog came close to hers. She’d practically been obsessed with this game when she first got it- some cheaply produced little parody of Pokémon, except with dogs, and also, much worse objectively. it was pretty clear that whoever made it, either made it as a joke, or as a prototype for something better- but she loved it. Lena had a passion for unapologetically bad things- terrible books with half naked cowboys on the cover, bad old movies in which some actors spoke like they were one parts half asleep and the other half robot, awful dumb t.v shows with a budget of a Dorito and the stem of a cherry. Horrible pokemon rip offs in which the character creator only allowed you to change the color of your hair. Lena’s was purple.

The area outside her vision was dark and decrepit, old stone walls crumbling apart, dusty trash rolling over the ground, rats scurrying along pipes that were more rust than water. The abandoned subway used to be a pretty big hub for duckburgs homeless population, but apparently a few years ago the police raided it- found some drugs, among a few other illegal things, locked up a significant portion of them. Barricaded the entrances and left these old trains to rot- not even bothering to check whether or not they could still work. (they could)

So it only stood to reason that it was the perfect place for her. She didn’t really fancy living with other people- she’d been burned too many times as far as foster homes went, and most tent cities were pretty dangerous if you didn’t know who to avoid. Especially if you were a young(ish) girl by herself (ish).

Not to mention that while it was pretty standard for some random homeless youth to talk to their own shadow, it was less standard for the shadow to talk back, and also for said homeless youth to also be part shadow. So. She had definitely slept around here a few times, before she had found her most recent home- a little closer to the McDuck mansion as was required. She fought back a sarcastic roll of her eyes.

This time however, she wasn’t actually alone down here. As proved by the frustrated grunts that came from Webby’s great grand something or other- fruitlessly trying to de-couple the connection between the two train cars.

“This would go a lot faster if you would give me a hand.” She heard the old lady say accusingly. Lena stubbornly kept her eyes glued to her screen, tapping away. She tilted her head slightly.

“Well the sooner I help you, the sooner I, never get to see my friends again, so..” She quipped back, adjusting her position casually. In truth, while it did annoy her, Webby’s Aunt really had no say in whether or not she’d be visiting her charges. Magica was not about to put a break on her ancient evil plans just because some elderly ex-military grandma told her sternly to. They’d find a way into the McDuck family regardless. Not to mention Lena was pretty sure not even God could keep Webby away from someone she really wanted to see, consequences be damned. Lena smiled slightly. Webby was stubborn and willful- she was an unstoppable force and there was no object that could halt her, immovable or otherwise. (but then, she was stupid too, and naïve, which was why she couldn’t see that none of this was real, not even Lena) The teens smiled slowly dropped back to her usual indifference.

Behind her Webby’s elderly half mother scoffed, like she was somehow more disappointed than she’d thought she’d be by Lena’s answer. Which- was crazy frankly- what normal teen wanted to help the adult that seemed to actively hate them? Lena wasn’t a normal teen- she wasn’t a person, she got that, obviously- but Webby’s great, great, grandmother had no idea. This shouldn’t have been unexpected.

“Want me to go get one of the more trustworthy kids to help- or am I still not allowed to talk to them?” She asked, lilting her voice up high in fake friendliness before dropping the facade and the end of her sentence.

The train moved slightly as the woman got up.

“Do not mouth off to me-“ Lena kept her eyes on her phone, her shoulders relaxed and casual and calm and everything was _alright_ -

“-it’s your fault were in this mess!- who raised you anyway?!”

Lena froze, heart stopping and starting back up in the opposite direction, pumping its way up past her lungs, and through her throat and laying at the back of her tounge- beating beating beating rhythmically, stopping her air, and whatever- whatever- air goes to the heart anyway right- so it was fine,fine fine

She shut her eyes, furrowing her brow slightly when she opened them. I raised myself she wants to say- wants to shove it in the old hags face- I raised myself and I got my own food, and I stole my own clothing, and every night I found myself somewhere to sleep, even in it was in a tree or under a bridge or right fucking here, and I starved by myself, and I protected myself, and when I couldn’t I was the one who held it all together when something in my ribs snapped and bruises lay under every feather-

and she doesn’t say it, because the real answer thumps along with the thing sitting in her mouth-

“-I know a bad influence when I see one. Those are _good_ children, with bright futures!” Lena feels like she’s been hit, like the impact should have her stumbling forward onto her knee’s.

“ _Yeah_? And what does that make me?” She snaps, and oh- she doesn’t know why she even bothers to ask, because she already knows the answer. If she was real she’d be a bad child with a dim future, but she’s not, so she’s not even that- she’s a shadow with no future- its not some big surprise, she’s smarter than Magica thinks, she knows that she’s not really going to be free after all this- and if she is its only because she’ll be- she’ll be- gone. Gone and not dead- thirteen never fourteen, and no one to remember her by. It won’t be a waste and it won’t be tragic and it won’t even be a little bit pathetic- it will be unremarkable, like an ant stepped on, like a leaf falling to the rotting ground- part of nature- the facts of life- nothing for anyone to be upset over-

“I don’t know.” The old woman says calmly, and its less than Magica might have said, but unsurprising all the same. Because Lena can hear what she’s implying but not saying.

Nothing nothing nothing


End file.
